Frank Page: Deciding Connecticut’s future

I think I speak for many Norwalkers when I say the results of the November election will have drastic consequences for my future in Connecticut as well as for my friends’ and families’ futures.

Because the stakes of this election involve Connecticut’s ongoing fiscal crisis, the specter of more tax increases, and the availability of good jobs in this state, I decided I couldn’t sit on the sidelines as the incumbent representative of Norwalk’s 137th House district seeks reelection.

Connecticut is in desperate need of new ideas and new leadership, which is why I put myself forward as a candidate for state representative in order to offer Norwalkers a viable alternative way forward.

I am a Norwalk native who cares deeply for this community, and my campaign is about hope for the future, creative ideas to reform state government, and fighting for the prioritization of education funding and transportation funding.

Voters who pay attention have learned in the past two years that the preferred solution of Connecticut Democrats remains the same as it has been the past eight years: to tax our way into prosperity while reducing the services we rely on. In both the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions, Democratic budgets proposed to solve our persistent budget deficit with sales tax hikes, new taxes on cell phones, new restaurant taxes, taxes on seasonal homes, taxes on home heating oil, and establishing highways tolls throughout our state with no plan in place (among other new taxes and fees). All of this while slashing Norwalk’s education funding, transportation, and other core government services.

If there is one message I want to convey to Norwalk voters, it is that this does not need to be the way forward to our state. We do not and can not tax and toll our way back to prosperity.

Connecticut needs to first focus on paying down its unfunded retirement liabilities that are strangling its budget. Then, serious structural reforms need to occur, such as switching new state employees over to defined contribution retirement plans that look more like private sector pensions. At this point, taxpayers cannot afford the government we have.

Finally, phasing out or reducing burdensome taxes is the key to offering Connecticut residents hope for their future and the future of their children here.

As election season enters full swing here in Norwalk, I hope to continue having conversations with Norwalk families about what needs to be done to make Connecticut more affordable and to bring jobs back.

Frank Page is the Republican and Independent candidate for Connecticut’s 137th House District, which covers East Norwalk, Central Norwalk, Shorefront Park, and a portion of Cranbury. He is challenging Democrat Chris Perone, who is seeking an eighth term in office.